Walkin' and Talkin'
by Theory G
Summary: We all know Andy if you've read my stories and we all now she's a year old, not talking, not walking. Only crawling around and signing. Here's how she started to go walkin' and talkin'.
1. Walkin'

"You have two _days_ until Halloween and you still don't have a costume for her?" Nick said in the break room as we discussed costumes and Halloween.

"I guess I don't know how to…celebrate Halloween. Besides, it's not like she needs all of that crap. She's a year old, Nicky, all she's going to do is look cute." I responded, sitting at the table next to Warrick.

It was a slow night tonight. Usually, to the words of my colleagues, this is the highest time of the year for CSI, since all the psychos were coming out to play dress up. No one had been called out at all and it was an hour and a half into shift. I was honestly thinking about taking a nap.

"Well, usually, I take Lindsey out around the neighborhood early, then I take her here and at PD so she can get some from everyone here. She likes it; not too much candy but not too little so they complain." Catherine said, sipping on her diet Pepsi.

"What about a lady bug or a butterfly?" Grissom asked, looking off into space.

"For what?" I asked.

"Her costume. Sometimes for little kids, it isn't all about the candy, it's just to put them out there and make them cute. Keep them an infant for a while longer before they grow up. She'd look cute as a lady bug."

_Halloween, 2000_

She sat on the table in the break room, clenching onto her two, light blankets to her chest, her fingers twisting around in the strings that hung off of the sides of each blanket.

I had to admit that Grissom was right when he said that she would look cute as a lady bug. The little black antennas stuck up, straight in the air. She had some of her curly bangs hanging out from the costume, but it made her even more adorable.

She had the huge, red lump on her back that was spotted with black circles. Her legs and arms were covered with a soft black material. Her brown eyes were wide and I couldn't tell whether she felt pathetic or alright.

But I knew what she wanted to do. Both of her hands were up in the air by her sides. Her pinkies and thumbs were sticking out and she was shaking her hands. She wanted to play.

"Alright," I told her, tapping her nose with my index finger lightly. She laughed her perfect, musical laugh and I took her off the table and placed her in the corner of the room with all the chairs. I placed her blankets next to her and one of her books in front of her.

There was really nothing she could play with and she seemed disappointed when I put the book in front of her. That was until Lindsey, with her fairy costume on, come running into the break room and towards Andy.

Andy smiled and clapped her hands. I smiled when Lindsey started to teach her "Patty Cake".

"Aww, you got to love them when they're that little and so cute." Catherine sighed.

I nodded, looking at the two little girls, when out of the blue, Greg ran into the room, panting, with a huge smile on his face.

"You gotta see this, guys." He said, "Hurry!"

"Lindsey, watch Andy for just moment will you?" Catherine asked her little girl.

"Okay, mom."

The two of us followed Greg in a hurried walk, just to keep up with him and it was the funniest thing that I have ever seen when we made it to Grissom's office.

Nick was dressed as a pirate with the whole linen clothing, boots that go up to your knees. He had a long wig on that had beads in the fake hair. He even got a temporary tattoo on his right cheek.

Warrick was dressed as a rapper/pimp. He looked hilarious with his dumb hat to the side and his clothes all baggy and his shoes half way off of his feet. His puffy, curly looked as though he had tried to slick it back with gel or something and it had been a total failure.

Catherine and I couldn't hold back laughs. Greg looked proud of himself when we busted up laughing. I saw that Nicky and Warrick couldn't help but crack a smile too.

Grissom seemed amused yet serious. I didn't think we were allowed to wear costumes to work, that's why I hadn't.

"Are you two serious about this?" he asked, looking at the two, his hands on the edge of his desk, his blue eyes staring deeply into Nick's and Warrick's.

"Hay, we just thought it would fun. Just for right now, boss, please? For the girls. After they're done trick or treating, we'll take off the costumes and dress in the clothes from our lockers. Please? For the girls." Nick said.

Both Nick and Warrick got out their puppy dog faces out and stared at Grissom. Catherine held onto my shoulder while the two of us tried to muffle our laughs with our hands.

Grissom didn't reply in any way.

"Oh, c'mon, Gil," Catherine badgered, "Let them walk around like this for a little while and get humiliated for the night. Let tonight be some fun, please? Oh, Rick, turn away! Turn away, I can't stop laughing!"

She turned her head away from the scene, but I couldn't. It was too damn funny. The sight of two grown men dressed as a pirate and a rapper was just…oh, God, it was too funny.

"Alright, but when Lindsey and Andy are done here and at PD, you two are going to change as soon as you walk through the front door. Understand?" Grissom told the boys.

"Yes, sir," the two responded.

As we walk out of Grissom's office, Nick wraps his pirate arm around my neck and hugs me close to him. Catherine and Warrick are only pushing on each other, laughing at random things. Sometimes they would only look at each other.

However, no matter how hysterical Nick and Warrick were in Grissom's office, what we saw was memorable.

The two of were just outside of the break room. Lindsey was standing a little bit behind Andy, her hands hovering around, being cautious and not knowing what to do.

Andy, though, was standing on her feet, looking at the polished ground and her feet, taking steps towards the hall we were coming through.

I stopped and gasped at the sight. Andy was walking. She was _walking._ Everyone else in the lab watched, whether it was close by in labs or they had been coming around and just happen to saw it like us.

Lindsey looked up at the four of us and smiled as her hands kept hovering. "She crawled over to the edge of the door, used the side of it to lift herself up and started stumbling until she took a step."

When she looked up, so did Andy and her eyes caught mine. She laughed and took another step. She stumbled and I lunged out for her, thinking she would fall, but she caught herself and looked back at the ground.

I heard familiar steps walking down the hall, towards us and then they stopped where I had just been. He gasped just as I had and I could feel his eyes looking at me and most likely Andy.

"Are you getting this Greg?" I heard Catherine ask.

"Every bit of it," Greg replied.

"C'mon, Andy," Lindsey encouraged, "C'mon, you can do it."

Andy looked up at me one more time before talking three more solid steps. Then it was two, and then three. She took six more steps, hesitating between three when she fell forward, trying to fake the seventh Step, and into my arms.

She laughed when she looked up at me. I laughed with her as I picked her up off the floor and up into the air.

Everyone gathered around Andy and l, everyone wanted to see her. It was as though she was famous, a star from Hollywood or something.

My baby girl had walked for the first time in her life, right here, in the forensics labs. Where I worked, where her father worked.

Grissom was outside of the crowd, smiling brightly. His glasses in his hands, his eyes bright with gratitude, love and amazement.

Andy was walking, her first steps being in the lab. Wow all we got to get her doing, but I wasn't going to push it. She was walking, that's all I cared about right-now.

CSI's little walking bug was my daughter.


	2. Talkin'

_Mid March, 2001_

Sara was still working on her case and vowed that she would not sleep until the killer was brought into custody, so I vowed that I would bring Andy home and take care of her until Sara became a little saner than she was right now.

I was on the floor in Sara's apartment, leaning against the love seat in her small living room, watching Andy stumble around the room and laugh every time she fell.

I couldn't help but smile when I heard her laugh.

Right now, Andy was at the other side of the living room, one hand on the arm of the couch, the other grabbing her blankets off of the floor.

She threw one of them over her head, covering her beautiful face completely and dropped the other one back onto the floor. She then let go of the couch's arm and brought the blanket up so it no longer covered her eyes.

She smiled at me and I laughed. She did the same gesture over and over again and I realized she was playing Peek – a – Boo. I crawled over to her, my knees paining in the process, wrapped an arm around her small torso and captured her quickly so she was pinned against my chest.

I was on my back now and she was laughing as I held her up in the air, the whole kid's Peter Pan experience. I sat up after my arms started to burn from moving her around in the air and making airplane noises just to hear her sweet laugh.

She sat between my legs, one of them propping her up though she didn't need it at this age.

She reached out and took my hand and started to analyze it carefully. Her little finger caressed the lines in my palms and my veins on the outside of my hand. She seemed fascinated with it and I didn't understand why.

It was only my hand. What was so special about it that made her daze off into another world?

What ever she was thinking about, the noise coming from the door scared her into coming back to Earth. She held my hand tightly with her little one as though it was her life source, like if she let go she would die.

I was beginning to think this was a reaction she had gained when _he_ had taken her. Some noise that she had heard while with him had made her scared.

I couldn't imagine what noise it was.

I turned my head just in time to see Sara walking through the door and placing her things on the counter with a sigh.

Andy laughed and released the tight grip on my hand. She slumped back down into her care free position that she had been in before Sara had made the noise with her keys and the lock.

"Mommy, Daddy. Mommy," I heard.

I looked around the room to see what it was and then I realized it had come from Andy. Her lips had moved along with her tongue making a sound other than a cry.

Her voice was soft and musical. Beautiful in every way; intelligent and excited hinted with a little relief.

Sara seemed to have heard it too because there was no longer racket coming from the kitchen.

Sara walked over and sat on the floor next to me, her face looking just as shocked as my own. Well, I thought my face looked shocked.

Andy clapped her hands and laughed and started to stand up. I put my hand on her back, steadying her while she got up. She walked over to Sara, her arms open as if for a hug which was what she was looking for when she slumped onto Sara's chest and tried as hard as she could to wrap her arms around Sara's slender body.

"Mommy," her voice said again.

I saw Sara's eyes sparkle at the sound of the little girl's voice.

Once she was done trying to secure her arms around Sara, she crawled over Sara's crossed legs over to me, where she made the same attempt to wrap her little arms around my body.

"Daddy," she said, her voice muffled as she rubbed her head against my chest.

She leaned back and looked at me with the wonderful brown eyes, imagination and wonder roaming around the orbs she inherited from her mother.

I smiled, trying to hold back tears at the wonderful moment, and placed my index finger lightly on her nose. She blinked at the contact, but didn't break her smile.

"Andy," I said lightly, "My butterfly."


End file.
